JAMBS British victim was due to be grandfather

Brendan-Vaughan

The British construction worker killed by Jama’atu Ansaril Muslimina fi Biladis Sudan was denied the chance to meet his first grandchild, his family said.

Brendan Vaughan, 55, was due to become a grandfather with the birth in the family of a baby girl in May, but the “lovable rogue” never had the chance. In a statement released through the Foreign Office, they said: “The family of Brendan Vaughan aged 55 from Rothwell, Leeds is obviously shocked and saddened by recent events.

“Brendan, best described as a lovable rogue by everyone who knew him, lived his life to the full and on his own terms. He has been deprived of meeting his first grandchild, a baby girl to be born in May, Brendan may be gone but will be never forgotten.

“The family would like to thank friends and family for their support, kindness and condolences.”

He was working in northern Nigeria for the Lebanese construction company Setraco when he and six colleagues were taken hostage on 16 February by JAMBS.

The group had posted a video online showing what appears to be a gunman standing next to a pile of bodies, and then close-ups of faces lit up by a torch, according to Reuters.

A Nigerian secret service official said three of the hostages were believed to have been seriously ill during their captivity.

Vaughan was a diabetic, while another suffered from hypertension.

Attempts to pass medication to them through members of Ansaru had been unsuccessful, the source said.

The murdered hostages comprised four Lebanese construction workers, an Italian and a Greek.

The terrorists said they killed the “seven Christian foreigners” because they believed British jets were being readied for a rescue mission. (source: the Guardian, UK)